Studiopresto

Please describe your company and your position there.

Co-founder of event services startup

For what projects/services did your company hire Presto?

Design brand identity, logo, and style guide

What were your goals for this project?

Design high quality brand identity, logo, and style guide

How did you select Presto?

We selected Presto through Upwork after reviewing their portfolio of work, reading reviews from other clients, and discussing the project approach with the Presto team

Describe the scope of their work in detail.

We put together a detailed document that captured our vision for our brand. The Presto team took time to understand our vision. Then they came back with 3 high quality concepts for our brand identity and logo.

We did a couple of iterations on the concepts and finalized the logo design and color palette. Next the Presto team developed a comprehensive style guide based on the brand and logo design

What was the team composition?

We worked directly with a project manager who coordinated with a team of designers.

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

The Presto did an outstanding job in designing our brand identity and logo. The designs were highly creative and had a sense of originality and authenticity that uniquely captured our brand vision. We've received several positive remarks about our brand and logo.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

We had a seamless workflow with the Presto team - they were responsive, good at listening to our feedback, and paid attention to detail. They were timely and responsible. They hit all the milestones on time as promised.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Strong team, delivered high quality work, true to their word, strong work ethic and professionalism, responsive and timely, and above all original and authentic designs.

Are there any areas for improvement?

It was a pleasure working with the Presto team, and look forward to our continued partnership

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CEO and founder of a software startup in the health and wellbeing industry. We are launching into the USA, UK, Canada, and Australia.

For what projects/services did your company hire Presto, and what were your goals?

We hired Presto to custom build the web app, iOS, and Android app for our new health and wellbeing app. Our goal was to have a stylish, easy-to-use, customer-facing application that was secure with customers sensitive information and integrated with the APIs of many other organizations.

How did you select Presto and what were the deciding factors?

We interviewed several development agencies, across many countries, and decided to proceed with Presto predominantly because we felt they understood the project the best but also because they had done similar work before and we liked their styling.

They also came back to us with a detailed, itemized quote and were happy to answer all our questions.

Describe the scope of work in detail, including the project steps, key deliverables, and technologies used.

We had drawn up some basic user flows and wireframes. Presto took these and developed out the wireframes. Next, they worked on the aesthetic aspects of a single page for approval before building out the rest of the e-commerce and membership database.

Integration of several APIs was also key to the success of our project as was the uploading of a couple of large databases. Our software is built using Laravel.

How many people from the vendor's team worked with you, and what were their positions?

There are 7-8 people with hands-on contact on the project. I have a project manager. Most of my contact is with my project manager but the team also consists of a team-lead, senior designers, a marketing manager, and two social media marketers.

Can you share any measurable outcomes of the project or general feedback about the deliverables?

We have run to time and to budget. We are currently receiving beta tester sig-ups and product validation tests have been positive. The marketing team that is in-house at Presto has developed 8 Facebook ads and detailed email and social media funnels for our launch.

We work in sprints which equate to approximately 2 weeks each.

Describe their project management style, including communication tools and timelines.

The project was managed professionally with regular meetings. Presto was always well prepared for the meetings and happy to answer our questions or research answers and come back to us.

We hold meetings 1-2 times per week and also communicate via messaging on Discord and via email.

What did you find most impressive or unique about this company?

I think their styling and focus on user-friendly interfaces really separate Presto from other companies. Their founder has a strong design background and oversees the projects.

Also, having in-house marketing is a huge advantage for a consumer-facing app. Having the marketers, developers, and designers all on the same team makes for a far superior product delivered.

Are there any areas for improvement or something they could have done differently?

No. Have been very happy.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I manage tool development at a startup aimed at creating tools to support the green and healthy building industry.

For what projects/services did your company hire Presto?

We developed a feasibility assessment algorithm to help building owners and managers determine whether their project would be able to qualify for a particular building rating/certification, and we hired Presto to design the web version of the tool, including user workflow, overall style guide/fonts/colors, etc.

What were your goals for this project?

Fully functional, professional look and feel.

How did you select Presto?

We found them through Upwork - based on their profile and the high-value price they offered, we decided to try them out.

Describe the project in detail.

We had already laid out the tool in Excel in a very basic way. We had an outline of the pages/templates we needed and a general direction we wanted to go with colors and general aesthetics.

We provided this high-level direction to Presto in a single meeting and a few follow-up emails, and they took care of the rest - we got 90% of what we wanted on their first shot, and the remaining 10% with very minimal follow up and feedback. We were very happy with the process, including speed, responsiveness, and quality.

What was the team composition?

The Presto team, led by Lana, worked collaboratively with our 3-person leadership team and our lead software developer.

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

A few months after the tool's completions, we successfully sold it to the intended purchaser. One of their main pieces of feedback was on the very professional and sleek look and feel of the tool, which is all down to Presto's excellent work.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Very easy and effective, despite different time zones. We communicated mainly through Slack, with just a few Zoom calls as needed. Presto was always careful to make sure they understood the exact requirements so they could give us precisely what we wanted.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The attention to detail and the creativity we saw from Presto were impressive. Communicating requirements around a nebulous "look and feel" is often a murky and messy process, but Presto heard our requests and provided exactly what we needed to enable the successful marketing and sale of the tool we created with them.

Are there any areas for improvement?

We were thrilled with the quality of work we got from Presto and could not ask for more.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am CEO in the project, that is online media recourse with gambling agenda. We are top-3 in the World in this sphere and have 50+ employees.

For what projects/services did your company hire Presto?

To make re-design of a dozen of sections in our site. To rebuild logic and to implement modern ideas in terms of design.

What were your goals for this project?

To have fast, modern and involved workflow. To be in touch and get continuing task-improve-result process

How did you select Presto?

We tried to work with 5 design studios, giving the same task, and only Presto gave the result that we were looking for.

Describe the project in detail.

It were a dozen of old-looking sections in our site. We wrote text tasks with ideas and reference step by step and Presto took 1-2 days for showing the drawts, we gave feedback and after 2-3 iterations we got the great result.

What was the team composition?

The great thing, that we work only with one project manager, who organizes everything. She understands what we need and doesn't invilve us to the procees of work that we are not interested.

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

We got the whole list for redesign much faster than we planned and now we just don't have enough resource to "digest" their speed. Our tech command just can't implement Presto's design so fast. We have 11 years experience of working with design studios and it's the first time when design is faster than our tech speed.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Our tech command absolutely enjoyed of the files and materials that we get from Presto, so it's 100% effectiveness. The communication between our managers and Presto's project manager is also completely well.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Their speed, involvement, and price were all impressive.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I can't find any problems, so can't suggest any improvements

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am a Director of SECMON1. We are a Cyber Security Consulting firm operating across Australia.

For what projects/services did your company hire Presto?

We initially hired Presto to completely rebrand our website but we were so impressed with the way the work and the quality of their work we also then asked them to completely rebrand our brochureware and all company documents.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted a website which looked professional and would really catch our clients eyes. It had to be clear and represent us as a company.

How did you select this vendor?

We interviewed many vendors before settling on Presto. We were impressed with their quick understanding of the project and some of their previous work.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

Presto provide very high quality and creative solutions to web site design and builds as well as graphic design services.

What was the team composition?

The back end designers and web developers are supported by a project manager (In our case Lana - Excellent)

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

All of our clients and other visitors to our page comment that the web site is a real stand out. The update of our web site by Presto has helped us to win substantially more work.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

I think this is one of the stand out features about how Presto operate. We only needed to talk to the project manager (Lana - Again Excellent) and she would relate the requirements to the web designers and builders. Lana very quickly understood what we needed and was able to operationalise it with her team to get exceptional results.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

There were two key things I liked about Presto. Firstly, their initial designs were very impressive. We had to change very little about what we first saw. Secondly, nothing was a problem for Presto. They managed our requirements so well.

Are there any areas for improvement?

I wouldn't change anything about Presto. Keep up the great work!!!!!

Please describe your company and your position there.

Starkup is small web development agency that focuses on Estonian and Icelandic market, my position in the company is founder/creative manager.

For what projects/services did your company hire Presto?

Presto was hired to created new web design for photography workshop website. Old design was outdated and needed a refreshing touch.

What were your goals for this project?

Our goal was to offer client modern website with exceptional functionality on desktop and also mobile.

How did you select this vendor?

We have been working with Presto for past two years together and they are our number one go to agency for designs.

Describe the project in detail.

We provided Presto with brief about the project and Presto gave us everything from wireframe to ready product.

What was the team composition?

We are not certain about the amount of people behind the project since we had discussion through project manager.

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

The new design is being implemented to live web at the current moment, but already end-customer is happy about the design that Presto provided us.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

One really big pro about Presto is speed, they deliver all products always on time and communication is quite efficient

What did you find most impressive about this company?

Presto has very quick reaction times and very fast results. They met deadlines every time and communication is clear.

Are there any areas for improvement?

There really isn't anything to complain about.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I am the CEO of Alpha Alias, a digital services company focused on operational leadership.

For what projects/services did your company hire Presto?

I hired Presto to design and build our website, design our business cards, and to design our pitch deck.

What were your goals for this project?

Goals for the website project were to create a design with wow-factor but also keep things professional enough that we don't look immature. The company is new, but the experience we have is long-running, and we wanted to portray that with a fully custom design.

We also wanted the website to use GatsbyJS which is a React frontend because we want to use our website as an example to show clients how we build the infrastructure for super-secure digital assets.

How did you select this vendor?

I work with a lot of vendors and partners at Alpha Alias because our business model relies on expert-level vendors to execute the activity we plan with our clients.

I reviewed a lot of Presto's work for several weeks and decided to work with them because their designs are excellent and they are competitively priced.

After deciding I wanted to work with them, I had several great conversations with Helen who is one of Presto's internal project leads. She was proactive and helpful every step of the way and was pivotal in my decision making to move forward with Presto.

Describe the project in detail.

As a new agency is was very important to me that we give a good impression with a website that can last for around 2 years with its custom design. I wanted a technically elite infrastructure and a beautiful design on top of it.

I approached Helen with a long, detailed project plan and she took that to her team to turn it into an actionable request for them to service. Once the project began it was clear that Helen and the team at Presto knew what they were doing, and in a lot of ways I was able to relax and take a step back while the project built itself.

The approval rounds for design and development were organized very well and Helen managed me as a client very professionally. The QA for this project revealed a lot of bugs which is natural when you have so much custom work in one project. The volume of issues didn't matter much because the Presto team tackled them efficiently and without complaint.

What was the team composition?

From the Vendor side I had Helen as my main point of contact. She went on vacation for a week during the project and they had a very clean handoff to a backup PM whose name I forget at the moment.

I also had a primary design and development resource, although I didn't need to speak to them directly because Helen did a great job of handling comms. I think some additional resources may have been involved but I don't know formally if that's the case. I just know who the lead roles were.

Can you share any outcomes from the project that demonstrate progress or success?

The number one KPI for this project was my personal satisfaction. I can say that I definitely got what I asked for and have been quite satisfied with the result. There are some optimizations I would like now that I have some metrics to look at and I will be doing those optimizations with Presto.

The engagement proved to be more valuable to me than expected. Presto is very good at what they do and they weren't afraid to push back when it made sense to do so. It's something I respect out of experts and they delivered.

My stakeholders are my professional colleagues and clients. Their feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, and I know that my competition on the ground here in Helsinki is quite jealous. So I think that's a successful outcome.

How effective was the workflow between your team and theirs?

Helen deserves all the credit here. There was never a point where they dropped the ball or missed some detail that I have mentioned.

There were a couple of miscommunications here and there but I think they were more likely my fault than Helen's. When there was a miscommunication, Helen was very good about mitigating and getting the desired result completed without complaint.

We used UpWork as our primary communication and payment tool, and we used Google Hangouts for video calls. We used Alpha Alias's Google Docs for the project plan, and Trello for the QA burn down lists.

What did you find most impressive about this company?

The most impressive thing about Presto is their willingness to make sure their clients are satisfied. There is no project that has ever happened without some hurdles, or unexpected things popping up.

Presto had no issues with change requests, fixing bugs, or even working with a technology that is bleeding edge web like Gatsby. You can see for yourself by looking at Presto's work, they are experts in their field.

Are there any areas for improvement?

Everyone can always get better at what they do. I think Presto could get better by offering a wider range of technical development for their web applications. They were able to do everything I needed, but I think a natural next step for them is more tech.

Please describe your company and your position there.

I’m the owner and lead designer of Yourwebsitebuilders. We’re a web design and development agency. We focus on helping businesses improve their online presence.

For what projects/services did your company hire Presto Agency?

We needed WordPress design and development services.

What were your goals for this project?

We wanted to match the current design of the client's site and install a page builder for editing on each page. This would make all page elements editable, whereas only some were prior. We also wanted to favor customization and ease-of-use so a non-technical person could manage the site.

How did you select this vendor?

They were recommended to us by a colleague. After a brief interview, Andre (Project Manager, Presto Agency) seemed competent and excited to take on this project.

Describe the project and the services they provided in detail.

I hired them to help solve a problem for one of my oldest clients. They wanted to overhaul their entire website and include a page-builder on each page so they could make easy edits. Presto Agency was responsible for taking the existing code repository, maintaining the original integrity of the design, and overhauling each page into a page builder format. They were solely responsible for managing the project, completing it on time, doing quality control, and educating myself and the client on how to work with what they built.

What was the team composition?

I worked with Andre and 1–2 other developers.

Can you share any information that demonstrates the impact that this project has had on your business?

It’s had an immensely negative impact on my business. My relationship with Presto upset my client and lost me money. About two months post-launch, my client started having problems with the site. I reached out to Presto for support, because the problem was with the page builder, and didn’t get a response for several weeks. When they did respond, they said they wouldn't support my client or me.

How was project management arranged and how effective was it?

I worked with Andre initially to convey project goals and set him up with all of the resources he needed. From then on, we communicated over email. Communication was slow to start, because of time zone differences, but over time it became inexcusably slow. They dropped the ball completely when it came time to launch the site. At a certain point, I was told the project had 1–2 weeks left. That was when things started going downhill. Their responses started coming every few days, instead of every day when I would check in for an update.

When I reached out for support after the project launched and didn’t receive an answer, I began copying the CEO on all my emails. I wanted him to know what was happening, but he never engaged with me.

What did you find most impressive about this company? 

I don't have an answer for this. 

Are there any areas for improvement?

First and foremost, they should improve the support they provide after the project launches. They would also benefit from improving their communication and responsiveness.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

I’m the owner of a company that designs accessories for high-end coolers. We sell exclusively on our website.

What challenge were you trying to address with Presto Agency?

I wanted to freshen up my website and make it more modern and user-friendly. In order to generate more online sales, I needed better organization around how my products were offered.

What was the scope of their involvement?

I had an idea of what I was looking for, but I tend to leave it more open for the design company. They’re the experts, and I try not to give too much direction. I gave Presto the list of problems I wanted to solve and then let them run with it. We did a couple revisions, but it was relatively minimal. Presto mostly primarily on the design. They improved the product organization and navigation through the site. I provided all the content.

They do relatively quick work, and they communicated well. I’ve been pleased with them and hired them for other projects involving a different business.

How did you come to work with Presto Agency?

Another business I work with had used Presto in the past, so I already had a relationship with them. My partner found them on Upwork originally.

How much have you invested with Presto Agency?

We’ve paid around $1,000 for their services.

What is the status of this engagement?

The project began in October 2016 and ended in the same month. It was only a two-week project.

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

I've had positive feedback from customers. I really like the design they did—they delivered what I wanted. I had a couple of comments early on, which Presto easily adjusted to. When I caused an error a couple weeks ago, they jumped right in and fixed it without charging me. Working with them has been great.

How did Presto Agency perform from a project management standpoint?

They were proactive in asking me what they could do to improve. We used Asana to communicate.

What did you find most impressive about Presto Agency?

They’re a low-cost alternative to finding a designer in the States, and the quality is on par with US designers. It’s easy to work with them. If I had the choice and it cost the same as a local company, I would stay with Presto.

Are there any areas Presto Agency could improve?

I advised them to give a detailed list of what would happen, the timeline, and associated cost. I believe that would set expectations for the client and provide something to look back on in the future. They did act on that.

Introduce your business and what you do there.

We’re an inbound marketing firm that specializes in content marketing and sales enablement. We also have a website development arm that specializes in HubSpot development. I’m the CEO of the company.

What challenge were you trying to address with Presto Agency?

A few years ago, we had a challenge in capacity when it came to designing.

What was the scope of their involvement?

We’ve been working with Presto Agency on and off for several years to fulfill capacity needs. They’ve worked on 15–20 projects for us, which have all been design-focused. They typically create PSD’s [Photoshop documents] for coding and HubSpot. We set up wireframes with our client and figure out what we want the structure of the page to be, and then send that to Presto. Depending on the client’s needs, they create one, two, or three versions of the design based on the wireframe. We collaborate to refine that down to a final product in the form of a PSD, which we give to the development team to code.

They’re very adaptable in terms of capacity and what they’re willing to take on in a given timeframe. We’ve gotten better over time in communicating the timelines to them, which need to be crystal clear. They’ve delivered very good work in a timely manner over the course of the last two years.

How did you come to work with Presto Agency?

We originally sourced them on Upwork.

How much have you invested with Presto Agency?

We’ve invested $10,000–$50,000.

What is the status of this engagement?

We started working together a year and nine months ago, so roughly July 2015. Our relationship is ongoing on a project basis. The most recent project was completed on March 8^th, 2017.

Could you share any evidence that would demonstrate the productivity, quality of work, or the impact of the engagement?

Every site we’ve designed with them has increased conversions by roughly 50%. Some of this is due to changes we made to their original designs, based on our knowledge of what works to convert. So, it’s a blurred line there, because we very much consider it a partnership with our client, Presto, and us. Collaboratively, it’s been very effective. We keep using them because they deliver very good designs.

How did Presto Agency perform from a project management standpoint?

We use Slack to communicate. They perform very well in project management. As long as we’re clear on deadlines, they’re good about sticking to the date.

What did you find most impressive about Presto Agency?

Their adaptability is the biggest thing for us. We often go from having a little bit on the design side to starting six different design projects on the same day. They’re usually available to start on a new project in a short period of time, and that’s been huge in helping us scale our design capability.

Are there any areas Presto Agency could improve?

Not particularly.